1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of garment manufacture wherein a number of garment preforms or blanks are to be processed through successive finishing steps toward completion of finished garments. In particular, the invention concerns an improvement wherein the blanks are retained in a clamp or fastener throughout processing, the clamp being a removable trolley element attachable to a carriage on an overhead conveyor.
2. Prior Art
Garment manufacture is most efficient when conducted as an assembly line operation. Beginning as flat stock or as preforms or blanks, the garments are successively processed through successive steps, during which successive procedures such as hemming, attachment of separate parts and similar finishing operations are accomplished to convert each of the preforms or blanks, together with the respective separate parts attached thereto, into completed garments.
When handling blanks brought individually to a processing station, the operator must as a preliminary matter find the respective location on the blank at which the particular sewing operation is to be conducted. This may involve turning the blank to find a particular edge, rotating the blank to place the required edge in correct orientation for feeding into the sewing machine, smoothing opposed surfaces to be attached, etc. It is possible as in U.S. Pat. No. 2,492,925 --Segur to string together individual blanks by attaching each one to a continuous line, and thereby reduce the number or complexity of positioning steps which are needed to get each individual blank into the position needed. However, the blanks are handled serially and the attachment, detachment and handling of the line are steps which are added to the sewing processes and might advantageously be deleted.
The individual finishing steps in a sewing operation production line can be most efficiently completed using special purpose sewing machines adapted to each particular operation, and these machines and/or the character of the work stations at which they are operated may vary considerably if the work stations along the production line are outfitted specifically for different operations. A hemming operation to be conducted at an edge of a tubular blank, for example, can be most efficiently accomplished using a different type of sewing machine or machine station than would be most efficient for attachment of a reinforcing strip along the inside of a seam. Therefore, the blanks are moved from one processing station to another, one or more specific operations being performed at a given station for all the blanks in turn.
The garments or preforms passing through a manufacturing operation accordingly must be moved from station to station. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,264,032 --Webb, an overhead conveyor is disclosed as a means to carry garments which have been processed at one station in a manufacturing operation to the next station. The overhead conveyor includes garment engaging fixtures for each successive garment. A benefit of conveyors of this kind is that the fixtures and the garments they carry can queue up at each station, allowing each operator to work at his or her own pace, rather than at the continuous speed of a linear conveyor or attached string of articles. An inherent drawback, however, is that since the garments or preforms are serially processed one at a time, each must be individually suspended from the conveyor, detached and individually positioned before commencing processing. Efficiencies that could result from handling a stack of garments at the same time are not realized.